Niv Compact Series/Niv Compact Dictionary Of The Bible [Paperback]

 

 

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The stereotypical view of American Fundamentalists is of chinless, in-bred, redneck ignorami with the brain functions of a warthog. One could wish that it were so; but in actual fact, Fundamentalists can be highly intelligent, widely educated, and quite good writers. What is more, in the desperate attempt to suit their crazed beliefs to any kind of reality, they are capable of astonishing creativity; witness for instance the recent Fundamentalist "study" of Greek literature by Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr., ATHENA AND KAIN: THE TRUE MEANING OF GREEK MYTH, more akin to a science-fiction or fantasy novel than to anything describeable as scholarship, but almost dazzling in its prodigies of misinvention and misassociation.
The present dictionary is a fair, one might almost say a moderate, study of the central object of their obsessions. Much of it can be of use to anyone interested in the Bible: neither the Hebrew etymologies nor much of the historical material can be reproached. It is only when we come to such statements as that Moses actually spoke the words of Deuteronomy (page 303), which no serious scholar believes, or the nuanced but unmistakable assertions contained in the entry "creation" (pp.133-135) that one catches sight of the authors' real agenda: the denial of scientific evidence and the revolt against reason - and as Chesterton said, to revolt against reason is bad theology.
But it is not only the basic irrationality of Fundamentalism that is unorthodox and unChristian: bad theology is much closer to the surface. While it might not interest non-Christian readers, the book's explanation of the Hebrew name of God is so heretical that I want to quote it in full: "The name is related to the Hebrew verb 'to be', 'to be actually present'. 'I am who I am' means either 'I am actively present as and when I choose' or 'I bring to pass whatever I choose'." That it might simply mean, what it was translated to mean in the Italian Bible I read as a child; what Our Lord clearly understood it to mean when he said "before Abraham or Isaac was, I AM"; what the verb demands that it should mean - I am He Who is; I am the actually existent - does not seem to occur to messrs. Douglas and Tenney. They prefer a meaning that would cover any supernatural being - "I am actually present as and when I choose" - or one that describes a tyrant with no moral connotation - "I bring to pass whatever I choose".
What is cryingly obvious is that both of these mistranslations refuse to deal with Existence itself, dodging the suspicion that God might, after all, have anything to do with it; preferring to concentrate on the gaudy externals of mere power - He appears ("I am actually present as and when I choose"); He does things, preferably miraculous ones ("I bring to pass whatever I choose"). This is not only rotten explanation, but shows a habit of mind to avoid central issues and focus on the externals of power, such as we see in the constant Fundamentalist stress on "miracles" and "healing".
All the same, Christians interested in Bible studies could do worse - taking due precautions - than to get a copy of this book. Its scholarship, within its own terms, is quite good, and the format is both compact and comprehensive. It is exactly the fact that this is respectable work done by respectable people, that shows the sheer danger of Fundamentalism.

NIV-version is one of the best translations,and this dictionary is most helpful if you like deeper understanding of bible words.

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